Topic And Its Application To Chinese Linguistic Analysis

There are two major approaches in the study of language, namely, the structural approach and the functional approach. Since the time of Ma Shi Wen Tong, most linguistic studies in Modern Standard Chinese have adopted a structural approach, yielding rich findings in areas such as word class distinctions, word class systems, analyses of sentence structures and classification of syntactic patterns. At the same time, the functional study of utterances is gradually maturing. Utterances refer to language data as used in reality. The functional approach to the study of Chinese focuses on the use of language in reality, as opposed to the form of language as abstract form. This thesis takes a functional approach and investigates the nominative components in sentence-initial positions from a semantic, syntactic and pragmatic point of view.This thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter One is the Introduction. It explains the fact that although both form and function are essential elements of language, linguists in the structural camp and those in the functional camp often hold rather different or even opposing views towards language. The two approaches, however, are complementary and used together view can actually help shed light on many complicated issues regarding language. This is the view adopted in the thesis in its examination of the role of topic in Modern Standard Chinese.Chapter Two, entitled Topics and Subjects in Chinese, discussestopics and subjects in Chinese sentences. It reviews the various positions advocated by different linguists regarding topics, including various theories expounded by Western linguists, the introduction of the notion of topic in the analysis of Chinese and recent developments in this area. This thesis argues that before the analysis of topics and subjects in Chinese can be conducted, clear distinction has to be made between the abstract nature of sentences and the concrete nature of utterances, as the analysis of utterances involves both a static syntactic structure and the dynamic elements of language use. Topics are regarded as manifestations of language use, and are analysed according to their information structures, while subjects are considered manifestations of syntax, and are analysed according to their syntactic structures. Topics and subjects can overlap, but if they are separate, the subject can be extracted through the means of compression. With this methodology, the different kinds of relationship between topics and subjects can be identified. This thesis also proposes a method for analysing topics which, for syntactic reasons, come after the comment.Chapter Three, entitled Properties of Topics , discusses the special properties of topics from the perspectives of semantics, pragmatics and syntax. The topic is the first semantic component in the information structure of a sentence, and is always found in conjunction with the comment. The topic is subsumed under the information structure, and hence it must contain old information. In terms of pragmatics, it must enable the information receiver to identify the entity in the context. In sentences expressingcomplex notions, a special kind of topic, the descriptive topic, is often used. In sentences emphasising semantic coherence, another special kind of topic, namely, the anaphoric topic, maybe employed. On this ground the notion of 'chain topics' is disputed. Although topics relate to language use, they do not enjoy complete freedom. In sentences, they have to operate under syntactic constraints. These constraints are mainly imposed by the valence of verbs and the levels of syntactic structures. In real contexts, a reply is constrained by the structure of the question. All these in turn affect the topicalisation of syntactic components.Chapter Four, Identification of Topics, focuses on the common physical signs associated with topics. It presents the view that such signs are not prerequisites, but only serve to facilitate the identification of topics, as the identification is essentially based on information structure. Such physical signs include positioning and the use of particles, prepositions, conjunctions, adverbs, etc.Chapter Five, The Conclusion, discusses the value of the analysis of Chinese topics. For example, in 'double nominative constructions', which are peculiar to Chinese, the main subjects can take many forms; in some they are topics, non-syntactic components. This thesis concludes by suggesting that topic analysis widens the scope of linguistic analysis beyond the sentence to include information structures. This should help our understanding of real language.